Article
Poetry newslog March 2004
January 18, 2006
Harrison wins Northern Rock
Britain’s largest literary prize has been awarded to noted anti-establishment poet Tony Harrison. The Northern Rock Foundation Writer's award, worth £60,000 over three years, is given to a writer living and working mainly in the north-east of England. Harrison “has famously rejected honours, including a very public refusal to be considered for the post of poet laureate,” writes The Guardian, and “in his latest collection, reserved the right to ‘blast and bollock Blairite Britain’.”
March 19, 2004
Mass recital of Daffodil poem
In an attempt to set the world record for the largest mass poetry reading, a quarter of a million schoolchildren have been reciting William Wordsworth’s poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’. A celebration of the bicentenary of the daffodil-inspired poem, the Words Worth Reading event was also set up by the Wordsworth Trust and Marie Curie Cancer Care to help raise funds to pay for specialist cancer nurses, the BBC writes.
March 18, 2004
Walcott robbed
After being robbed of his money, passport and US green card in Paris last week, Nobel prize-winning poet Derek Walcott is unable to appear at the StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews on March 21. The poet was also forced to cancel a number of other engagements, The Guardian reports. The poet is trying to obtain a new green card as soon as possible, which he needs for teaching duties in the States.
March 15, 2004
Poetry sells Italian newspapers
Italian newspapers have taken to distributing cheap or even free books of poetry with editions of the paper, selling hundreds of thousands of copies, the New York Times writes. Last February, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, with a daily circulation of 686,000, distributed a free edition of Eugenio Montale’s poetry with the paper. A Pablo Neruda book, costing readers 5.90 euros, sold more than 250,000 copies. The Corriere initiative follows the unexpected success of Rome paper La Repubblica, which started selling a series of 20th-century literary masterpieces with the daily newspaper two years ago, at a cost of 4.90 euros each. Not only did the sales increase circulation, they also brought more cash to the paper. La Repubblica is now offering a six-volume set of Italian poetry from the 13th century to the present, so far selling 120,000 copies of each volume at 7.90 euros a book.
March 12, 2004
Natan Yonatan, 1923-2004
Renowned Israeli poet Natan Yonatan died today at the age of 81, Haaretz writes. Yonatan has published 20 collections of poetry and three works of prose. He has been awarded many prizes, including an Israeli prize for lifetime literary achievement.
March 4, 2004
Lorca controversy continues
Plans to exhume the remains of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who was shot in August 1936 and buried in a mass grave, are again causing controversy in Spain, the BBC writes. Whereas the poet’s fans, as well as families of the men who share his grave, are in favour of digging, Lorca’s relatives and various politicians are against. “My uncle lies in good and noble company and the little information to be gleaned from digging up the graves doesn’t justify what is essentially an extremely violent act,” Lorca’s niece told the BBC. The poet has come to symbolize the victims of Spain’s civil war.
March 3, 2004
Million copies of Pope anthology
More than one million copies of Roman Triptych, a poetry anthology by Pope John Paul II, have been published in 20 languages, the BBC reports. The collection, first published in 2003, has been translated into languages including Romanian, Korean and Japanese. The Vatican has also announced plans to publish the poems in Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Basque, Catalan, Russian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Indian language Malayalam.
March 1, 2004
Costas Montis, 1914-2004
Costas Montis, Cyprus’ most famous poet, died at the age of 90 yesterday at his home in Ayios Dhometios, the Cyprus Mail reports. Montis was honored with the state award for poetry as well as many other literature prizes throughout his life. His most popular poems have been turned into songs.
NZ mailboxes read poetry
Mailboxes in Wellington, New Zealand, have been reading poetry to unsuspecting passers-by. The boxes, fitted with heat-sensitive gadgets, react to senders’ hands reaching into the slot, the Dominion Post reports. A recorded voice then calls out ‘cheers’ or ‘hang on a minute’, and one of eight New Zealand poets can be heard reading a poem. The talking mailboxes are a publicity stunt for the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival programme.
Harrison wins Northern Rock
Mass recital of Daffodil poem
Walcott robbed
Poetry sells Italian newspapers
Natan Yonatan, 1923-2004
Lorca controversy continues
Million copies of Pope anthology
Costas Montis, 1914-2004
NZ mailboxes read poetry
March 25, 2004Harrison wins Northern Rock
Britain’s largest literary prize has been awarded to noted anti-establishment poet Tony Harrison. The Northern Rock Foundation Writer's award, worth £60,000 over three years, is given to a writer living and working mainly in the north-east of England. Harrison “has famously rejected honours, including a very public refusal to be considered for the post of poet laureate,” writes The Guardian, and “in his latest collection, reserved the right to ‘blast and bollock Blairite Britain’.”
March 19, 2004
Mass recital of Daffodil poem
In an attempt to set the world record for the largest mass poetry reading, a quarter of a million schoolchildren have been reciting William Wordsworth’s poem ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’. A celebration of the bicentenary of the daffodil-inspired poem, the Words Worth Reading event was also set up by the Wordsworth Trust and Marie Curie Cancer Care to help raise funds to pay for specialist cancer nurses, the BBC writes.
March 18, 2004
Walcott robbed
After being robbed of his money, passport and US green card in Paris last week, Nobel prize-winning poet Derek Walcott is unable to appear at the StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews on March 21. The poet was also forced to cancel a number of other engagements, The Guardian reports. The poet is trying to obtain a new green card as soon as possible, which he needs for teaching duties in the States.
March 15, 2004
Poetry sells Italian newspapers
Italian newspapers have taken to distributing cheap or even free books of poetry with editions of the paper, selling hundreds of thousands of copies, the New York Times writes. Last February, Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera, with a daily circulation of 686,000, distributed a free edition of Eugenio Montale’s poetry with the paper. A Pablo Neruda book, costing readers 5.90 euros, sold more than 250,000 copies. The Corriere initiative follows the unexpected success of Rome paper La Repubblica, which started selling a series of 20th-century literary masterpieces with the daily newspaper two years ago, at a cost of 4.90 euros each. Not only did the sales increase circulation, they also brought more cash to the paper. La Repubblica is now offering a six-volume set of Italian poetry from the 13th century to the present, so far selling 120,000 copies of each volume at 7.90 euros a book.
March 12, 2004
Natan Yonatan, 1923-2004
Renowned Israeli poet Natan Yonatan died today at the age of 81, Haaretz writes. Yonatan has published 20 collections of poetry and three works of prose. He has been awarded many prizes, including an Israeli prize for lifetime literary achievement.
March 4, 2004
Lorca controversy continues
Plans to exhume the remains of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who was shot in August 1936 and buried in a mass grave, are again causing controversy in Spain, the BBC writes. Whereas the poet’s fans, as well as families of the men who share his grave, are in favour of digging, Lorca’s relatives and various politicians are against. “My uncle lies in good and noble company and the little information to be gleaned from digging up the graves doesn’t justify what is essentially an extremely violent act,” Lorca’s niece told the BBC. The poet has come to symbolize the victims of Spain’s civil war.
March 3, 2004
Million copies of Pope anthology
More than one million copies of Roman Triptych, a poetry anthology by Pope John Paul II, have been published in 20 languages, the BBC reports. The collection, first published in 2003, has been translated into languages including Romanian, Korean and Japanese. The Vatican has also announced plans to publish the poems in Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Basque, Catalan, Russian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Indian language Malayalam.
March 1, 2004
Costas Montis, 1914-2004
Costas Montis, Cyprus’ most famous poet, died at the age of 90 yesterday at his home in Ayios Dhometios, the Cyprus Mail reports. Montis was honored with the state award for poetry as well as many other literature prizes throughout his life. His most popular poems have been turned into songs.
NZ mailboxes read poetry
Mailboxes in Wellington, New Zealand, have been reading poetry to unsuspecting passers-by. The boxes, fitted with heat-sensitive gadgets, react to senders’ hands reaching into the slot, the Dominion Post reports. A recorded voice then calls out ‘cheers’ or ‘hang on a minute’, and one of eight New Zealand poets can be heard reading a poem. The talking mailboxes are a publicity stunt for the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival programme.
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